CAREER

On The Prowl Pt. 2

February 5, 2017tayjers

Catch up here: OTP stands for On The Prowl.

Almost every PR hopeful (or is it just me?) arrives at the point in their job search when they begin to lose hope. The bright light at the end of the tunnel becomes a distant, fading glimmer and you start to wonder if your 30K+ Communications degree was really worth it. Being OTP is not just a 2-week deal — it can take months of searching, interviews and heaps of rejection until you land the job of your dreams.

Don’t give up yet! I’ve compiled a few more tips to keep you going when you find yourself asking: Where can I find fashion or beauty public relations jobs in Toronto?

Numero Magazine Editorial — *Image courtesy of TrendHunter*

Use Industry Specific Job Boards

Everyone on planet Earth has heard of and uses Indeed.com when looking for work in their related field. A less obvious option is using an industry-specific job board. The Canadian fashion/beauty PR market is much smaller and this makes it much easier to curate all job postings into a few reliable places online:

Every major city around the world should have PR job boards relevant to their location. Indeed.com isn’t the end-all-be-all of your job search.

LinkedIn (Yes, again)

This next tip is by far the most useful bit of info I have ever shared on TAYJERS thus far:

Start using LinkedIn to its full advantage. When I say full advantage I mean it’s time to go all out, put your browser into private mode and really start digging.

Once you find a suitable position on the job boards listed above, check out the company’s LinkedIn page. Find out who holds your current position and/or other team members at the company. Compare your work experience to theirs and see how you stack up. This is a good indicator of whether or not you’ll be a good fit for the position and allows you to tailor the wording of your own work experience as needed. Next, find out who would be supervising you in your position. Is it the Social Media Manager? The PR Account Exec? The CEO him or herself? See which path they took to attain their leadership position. Bonus: find their social media profiles and see if they have posted anything pertaining to the job opening or if they can offer an inside glimpse of work life at the company. Lastly, only if possible, track down the LinkedIn profile of the Hiring Manger, HR person or the Operations Overseer (lol). You’ll want to use your Google skills to find their email address and submit your resume directly to them.

That’s the key — submitting your resume directly to someone who would be supervising you in your position, an HR contact AND to the posting you’ve found on the job board. Being direct and persistent gets your application maximum attention and makes you a more memorable candidate.

That’s all I have for now, see you in the next post!